Good Vibrations Festival

I’m a Good Vibrations virgin and lucky that the 2011 festival was kind to me when it popped my cherry. Being a devout indie rock lover I’ve never felt the need to attend what used to be a hip-hop dance oriented festival particularly as I always feel very out of place amongst a sea of fluoro, short-short clad, wife beater wearing teenagers, but with a killer line-up this year, it was too good to resist.

The crowds at Flemington seemed smaller than at other festivals I’ve attended there, with tickets still available at the box office I‘m guessing the event didn‘t quite sell out and with the ever increasing amount of festivals and the extravagant price of tickets I‘m not surprised either. The police and security were out in force and watching people get done by the sniffer dogs will never cease to be entertaining. There was a decent selection of food and liquor (for the usual disgustingly inflated festival prices) and the best surprise of the day was the vast amount of toilets that were kept in a relatively clean state for the duration of the event.

Now onto the music. Warming up one of the open air stage were local four piece City Calm Down. I walked in half way through their set and flaked out on the grass along with the other punters. The Melbourne scene is overrun with electro-pop acts at the moment and whilst City Calm Down played a few catchy tunes, their show itself wasn’t engaging enough to inspire anyone to get off their arse and dance in the glorious summer sun. Seeing them in a more intimate setting may be a different story, but as far as a festival set goes they were instantly forgettable.

Next up were Perth kiddies Tim and Jean. I saw them support Art vs. Science at The Hi Fi last year and was completely under whelmed by the blasé, generic synth pop they were cranking out. Whilst their songs are still clichéd and terribly kitsch with the mad 80‘s synth, their live show has improved immensely since then with a massive sound that got the people off the grass and up and moving. I’m still not sold on the overall quality of their music as it has all been done before, but live they were a lot of fun and as they mature and garner more experience, they’re sure to be a success on the Australian live scene.

First highlight of the day were Canberra duo Koolism. Hau and Danielsan were joined by Plutonic Lab on drums and together they put on one hell of a show. I’ve never been fond of Aussie hip hop, but Koolism are in a league of their own with their witty lyrics and inspired samples. Hau is an engaging front man and he got the tent up and jumping to Countdown and Turn It Back, before ending the set with a tribute to a mate who passed away last year that had everybody singing along to Hau’s cries of “I do miss you”.

Back out at the open air stage was a UK act who go by the name of Fenech-Soler. I must admit I’d never heard of this band prior to seeing their name on the Good Vibes line-up but they put on a cracking show, even if it was a tad early for the smoke machines they had cranking during their mid-afternoon set. Their sound was massive synth-pop, but it was done very well, with thoughtful arrangements and some intense arse shaking grooves. Vocalist Ben Duffy was an engaging front man and their set was massively fun. I look forward to hearing more of them in the future.

Neo- soul legend Erykah Badu graced the Roots stage on her first ever Australian tour. I’m not overly familiar with her work, which made the set difficult to fully engage with, but the woman has an amazing presence and the kind of voice that sends shivers down your spine. The tent was so packed it was difficult to breathe as the fans crammed in to catch a glimpse of their idol. The few songs I saw were absolutely divine and seeing her live was one of those special experiences that will stay with me for a long time to come.

The love fest was cut short though with a quick sprint back to the open air stage to catch UK sensations Friendly Fires. It’s been awhile since they were last on our shores and their live show was definitely worth waiting for. Front man Ed Macfarlane sure knows how to move and had the crowd up and dancing to their hits Lovesick, On Board, Skeleton Boy, Jump In The Pool and Paris, before ending on an extended version of Kiss Of Life that saw the boys let loose madly thrashing around on stage in what was an obscenely awesome set. Here’s hoping they’ll be back again for some more intimate shows soon.

Fat Freddy’s drop had the Roots stage grooving to their laid back reggae jams. They are an enjoyable act with some cool tunes that provided a nice chill out moment in what was otherwise a hectic dance fuelled day.

UK new wavers The Ting Tings pulled a massive crowd who really seemed to enjoy the show. For me The Ting Tings are plagued by the fact that one - their songs really aren’t very good and two - they don’t have much of an onstage presence. They sound just like they do in the studio, with front woman Katie White bringing little to the performance, asides from a few very staged moves, the occasional attempt at banter and far to much ’whooping’. They played all of the hit singles from their debut album, along with a bad mash up of Walk This Way and The Ghostbusters Theme Song and then of course ended with a blasé rendition of That’s Not My Name. Perhaps their new album will contain some material that far outstrips the mediocre pop melodies that were abundant on their debut from 2008, that unfortunately three years later the band is still attempting to ride high on.

I am quite fond of nineties hip hop and as such Nas and Damien Marley were a big draw card for me. Sadly the sound during their set was off with the vocals completely lost in the mix and the instrumentation madly distorted. The diehard fans in the crowd were going off though with a lot of violent dancing ensuing as soon as Nas took the stage. I did manage to make out the strains of If I Ruled The World (Imagine That), which is not as awesome as the studio version with Lauryn Hill, but was still rather enjoyable.

Given the poor sound quality and possibility of assault with the insane festivities at the Roots stage, a quick walk back out to the open air stage was needed. Kelis happened to be mid way through her performance and I’ve got to say I was mighty disappointed she wasn‘t bringing all the boys to the yard with her milkshake. The small crowd gathered their seemed to be loving it, but not surprisingly her vocals were rather bad live, as was her outfit and her cover of Madonna’s classic Holiday. Kudos to anyone who can dance in heels that high though.

Fortunately Swedish wonders Miike Snow washed away the badness with a sublime performance that was dreamy, ethereal and jaw droopingly good. I’m unfamiliar with their music, but their sound was amazing with a few intense instrumental moments and many a lovely melody. Their final song Animal got the most response from the crowd who were madly jumping along as the band ended with a musical miasma of distortion, smashing their silver glittery guitars onstage before walking off to masses of applause.

It was a tough call between Faithless and Phoenix, but my love of dreamy French accents won out and lo and behold Phoenix wowed me a phenomenal, stunning performance. They opened with Lisztomania and a massive dance/sing along love in ensued as the adoring fans swooned over the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix focused set, including all the favourites Lasso, Fences, Armistice, Girlfriend and Rome. A dazzling lights display took over during Love Like A Sunset Part 1, as the speakers lit up and whirling patterns enshrouded the band. The boys ended with a splendid performance of 1901, that saw front man Thomas Mars lying on top of the crowd as he crooned into the mic ‘fold it fold it fold it fold it’. Phoenix are breathtaking live and they proved to be a beautiful end to a mad day of fantastic music, ugly dancing and good times.

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